There was an interesting discussion in a philosophy class on Coursera around 
that topic recently. 

One of the issues is that in the end, it's not so clear what the 
computers/software "don't get", or why they shouldn't eventually "get it" 
(however more precisely we try to define that). There is a position that after 
all, human "intelligence" may not be much "more" than what we could/will 
eventually code into a computer. There are echoes of the Chinese Room, and 
Turing's test in this conversation. But it is not obvious what is the precise 
thing that humans have and that we couldn't put in a computer eventually. It is 
not clear that human brains are not entirely "mechanical" or could not be 
completely emulated in a computer. 

As the discussion on the Coursera forum progressed, several people argued for a 
"mind" or "soul" that could never be put in a computer, but they always failed 
to clearly define what that was in physical terms. They usually asserted the 
existence of "mind" or "soul" as something outside physics. On the other hand, 
several people argued for the complete physicality of the human brain, that 
physicality boding well for the eventual emulation of a complete 
brain/intelilgence by a computer. 

Frank



On Oct 4, 2013, at 12:29 AM, Hannu Kettinen <[email protected]> wrote:

> Well, this quote from the linked ‘blog post’ says it all : “...but it will 
> not change the fundamental fact that computers just don’t get it.”.
> Computers don’t “get” or do much at all, it is all software and algos. 
> Software and algos do what we instruct them to do.
> 
> Anyhow, when I read these “computer AGI’s need emotions to be able to 
> function” I always refer to Data the emotionless robotron from Star Wars.
> 
> 
> -H
> 
> On 03 Oct 2013, at 23:59, Matthew Taylor <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> http://opaqueparcels.com/2013/09/30/the-brain-as-a-model-for-computers-why-jeff-hawkins-wont-lead-us-significantly-closer-intelligent-machines/
>> 
>> Any comments? ;-)
>> 
>> ---------
>> Matt Taylor
>> OS Community Flag-Bearer
>> Numenta
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